For the love of pete. Fumigation was a nightmare.

[qajaq59]

I suggest that you make a personal call to the supervisor or manager of the whole situation and infrom him/her that if they intend to operate under the guidlines of the law and ask for doors to be opened and keys made accessible to them, then it would behoove the company not to hire people that looked like crackheads or gangbangers, or that reeked of alcohol.

I would definitely do this......

Too late now, but I think the better solution would have been to install the cheapest lockset Home Depot has on the front door, give them a key to THAT lock, then re-install the original lock after the job was done. That would have cost you maybe $15 and ten minutes of time.

GREAT idea!!! I'm going to remember that if we ever have a termite problem.

 

[brickeyee]

Why do they need to put a tent on the house and keep you out for two days?

My mother in law had a pretty bad termite infestation (they were eating the paneling in her basement) ... the exterminator simply sprayed the effected areas, bombed the house (which didn't require a tent and only required her to be out of the house for a few hours) and placed stake traps in the ground around the house. Termite problem solved.

There are two basic groups of termites.
Subterranean and dry wood.

Subterranean have an underground nest and return regularly.
They build mud tubes over exposed areas to gain access to wood.

Dry wood termites live in the wood they are eating above ground.

Tenting is the only effective method for dry wood termites.
Ground treatment can be used for the subterranean termites.

 

[.cheese.]

the idea of putting a separate lock on the door is genius.

Too bad I can't go back in time. Had they given me some notice, the THR braintrust could have provided me with such a great solution earlier.

Oh well. What's done is done.

 

[never_retreat]

Aguila Blanca Too late now, but I think the better solution would have been to install the cheapest lockset Home Depot has on the front door, give them a key to THAT lock, then re-install the original lock after the job was done. That would have cost you maybe $15 and ten minutes of time.

Than take them back when you done.

Yes my cheeks squeak sometime, gotta fund the guns somehow.

 

[Horsesense]

I have locks rekeyed all the time for $10 each, I supose I get a discount though. Maybe you can have the smith just change one pin in each lock and give you a new key.

Call a lock smith and ask if he will do a one pin re-key on 12 locks, if he says no ask what he will charge to completely re-key all 12, if you bring them in. Perhaps you could pay for it, as a thank you for the free rent.

 

[Cosmoline]

I think you did pay some rent, putting up with that nonsense.

 

[liquibyte]

Vikane fumigant is a colorless, odorless gas, hence the chlor-o-pic (teargas). It is also completely non soluble which is why they have to add odorant while fumigating as nothing will mix in with it. Incidently, my company probably sold the fumigators the Vikane that was used. They tent the structure because this allows a higher concentration of fumigant and won't dissapate as readily until required. Vikane will kill literally everything, so much so that it is considered a terrorist risk and can and has been tracked by the FBI especially in the event of a disappearance of said product.

It sounds to me like your parents thriftyness could end badly for them as they have chosen dishonest contractors. On that note, who was the company that did the work? I can almost bet you that the Vikane that they bought came out of Homestead.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

Why do they need to put a tent on the house and keep you out for two days?

My mother in law had a pretty bad termite infestation (they were eating the paneling in her basement) ... the exterminator simply sprayed the effected areas, bombed the house (which didn't require a tent and only required her to be out of the house for a few hours) and placed stake traps in the ground around the house. Termite problem solved.

This would only killed the termites that you could actually see. The ones in the walls are still happily munching away.


As for the re-key thing, Schlage sells re-key kits (available at Home Depot) for the do-it-yourself homeowner - you do not need a locksmith to do it - but you do need Schlage locks.
At a minimum you should have Schlage locks. Those cheap $7.99 Kwikset locks are nearly worthless.
Of course, locked doors really do nothing for a determined thief, because windows are only made of glass. About all you can hope for is to just make it as difficult as possible for someone to break into your house - a solid door and stout lock will only force them to bust your window to gain access.

For the price of having a locksmith re-key 12 locks, you could get an alarm system from ADT or Brinks. You might find that $27.00 a month in monitoring fees is pretty cheap for peace of mind.

 

[.cheese.]

I ran the changing of the locks thing again by my family today and emphasized that we have no way of knowing whether a copy of the key was made or not.

This time they said they'd look into how much it would cost.

I offered to install them myself if they just buy the parts. I've done it twice before at my apartment. It's not that big of a deal.

Hopefully though, they'll just have somebody take care of it if they do it.

 

[Horsesense]

For Pete sake Cheese, why don't you pick up the tab and pay for the lock work? I know that you are an aspiring lawschool student but this is a big deal...I promise, you will feel good about yourself.

 

[suemarkp]

Changing locks is easy if you have a common lock type and a kit from here:
http://www.changealock.com/

You'll want 2 or 3 kits with the same set of pins, so make sure you do the order right via the email notifier to make them all the same. $30-$40 and some of your time and you'll be rekeyed for 12 to 18 locks.

 

[BlackBearME]

Hopefully though, they'll just have somebody take care of it if they do it.

And hopefully that person doesn't show up smelling like alcohol.....

Really, the changing-one-lock-and-giving-them-that-key was the idea I had reading the thread. Then on thinking more about it (being lazy and cheap) I probably would have just grabbed a screwdriver and removed the whole knob assembly. There you go.